Asthma Status Scoring Method and System With Confidence Ratings

ABSTRACT

A method and system for assessing the health status of a patient, such as the asthma status of a patient, provides an asthma status score and a confidence rating indicative of the score&#39;s reliability using continuous real-time data. In some embodiments, the assessment comprises a multidimensional analysis in which asthma status scores and respective confidence ratings are generated for multiple individual asthma health dimensions as well as a summary asthma health dimension indicative of overall asthma health. In some embodiments, the individual dimensions include an environmental trigger dimension based on sensor-based environmental data, a physiological burden dimension based on sensor-based physiological data, a medication adherence dimension based on patient diary data and a perceived symptom dimension based on patient diary data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to assessing the health status of apatient and, more particularly, to assessing the asthma status of apatient by providing an asthma status score and a confidence ratingindicative of the score's reliability using continuous real-time data.

Asthma is an episodic chronic disease that involves disruption of normalrespiratory function. One important objective of asthma therapy ispreventing episodes of extreme worsening of respiratory function (i.e.asthma attacks) that can lead to hospitalization and even death. Toassist in these prevention efforts, the National Institute of Health(NIH) has recommended that asthma sufferers take an Asthma Control Test(ACT) that gives them an idea of how well their asthma has beencontrolled in the preceding four weeks. The ACT consists of fivequestions relating to asthma symptoms to which a patient inputs scoresthat are combined into a total score. A score below 20 (out of a maximumof 25) indicates that the patient's asthma is not well controlled.

Unfortunately, studies have shown that use of the ACT has had onlyminimal impact in controlling asthma. One problem with the ACT is datareliability. The ACT relies entirely on self-reporting of asthmasymptoms. A patient may fail to accurately perceive or assess his or hersymptoms, which can cause the patient to delay seeking medical treatmentuntil it is too late. Moreover, the ACT does not take into account thepresence or absence of asthma triggers in the patient's environment(e.g. airborne particles, humidity, temperature, etc.). Another problemwith the ACT is that the test is taken too infrequently. With moreseverely affected asthma patients, the ACT is typically performed twicea day. However, the risk of an asthma attack can change in real-time asa patient moves from one environment to another during normal dailyactivities.

Other asthma scoring approaches have been devised, includingcomputerized approaches that score the asthma status of a patient basedat least in part on data collected by sensors mounted on or near thebody of a patient. While these approaches rely on reasonable datareliability and increased frequency of testing, they have used a limitedset of health attributes and are not known to generate confidenceratings for asthma status scores that indicate the reliability of thescores.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, in a basic feature, provides a method and systemfor assessing the health status of a patient, such as the asthma statusof a patient, by providing an asthma status score and a confidencerating indicative of the score's reliability using continuous real-timedata. In some embodiments of the invention, the assessment comprises amultidimensional analysis in which asthma status scores and respectiveconfidence ratings are generated for multiple individual asthma healthdimensions as well as a summary asthma health dimension indicative ofoverall asthma health. In some embodiments of the invention, theindividual dimensions include an environmental trigger dimension basedon sensor-based environmental data, a physiological burden dimensionbased on sensor-based physiological data, a medication adherencedimension based on patient diary data and a perceived symptom dimensionbased on patient diary data.

In one aspect of the invention, an assessment system for assessing theasthma status of a patient comprises a data processing system, a datacapture system communicatively coupled with the data processing systemand an asthma data output system communicatively coupled with the dataprocessing system, wherein the data processing system receivessensor-based data from the data capture system, generates an asthmastatus score and a confidence rating for the asthma status score basedat least in part on sensor-based data and outputs the asthma statusscore and the confidence rating to the asthma data output system.

In some embodiments, the confidence rating is based at least in part ona comparison of an actual number of parameters used to generate theconfidence rating with a maximum number of parameters.

In some embodiments, the confidence rating is based at least in part ona comparison of an actual change rate for the asthma status score with amaximum change rate for the asthma status score.

In some embodiments, the data capture system comprises an environmentaldata capture system wherefrom the data processing system receivessensor-based environmental data and generates the asthma status scorebased at least in part on sensor-based environmental data.

In some embodiments, the data capture system comprises a physiologicaldata capture system wherefrom the data processing system receivessensor-based physiological data and generates the asthma status scorebased at least in part on the sensor-based physiological data.

In some embodiments, the assessment system further comprises a userinput system communicatively coupled with the data processing system,wherein the data processing system receives from the user input systempatient diary data input by the patient and generates the asthma statusscore based at least in part on the patient diary data.

In some embodiments, the data processing system generates a plurality ofasthma status scores and respective confidence ratings comprising atleast one individual asthma status score and individual confidencerating and a summary asthma status score and summary confidence rating.

In some embodiments, the asthma status score is indicative ofenvironmental asthma triggers.

In some embodiments, the asthma status score is indicative of asthmaburden on the physiology of the patient.

In some embodiments, the asthma status score is indicative of medicationadherence of the patient.

In some embodiments, the asthma status score is indicative of lungfunction change rate and direction of the patient.

In some embodiments, the environmental data capture system continuouslyreceives environmental sensor data and derives the sensor-basedenvironmental data from the environmental sensor data.

In some embodiments, the physiological data capture system continuouslyreceives physiological sensor data and derives the sensor-basedphysiological data from the physiological sensor data.

In some embodiments, the data processing system periodically updates theasthma status score and the confidence rating.

In some embodiments, the sensor-based physiological data include atleast respiratory data, heart data and saturation of oxygen in arterialblood flow (SpO2) data.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for assessing the asthmastatus of a patient comprises the steps of receiving sensor-based data,generating an asthma status score and an indicator of reliability of theasthma status score based at least in part on sensor-based data anddisplaying the asthma status score and the indicator.

In some embodiments, the generating step comprises generating aplurality of asthma status scores and respective indicators ofreliability of the asthma status scores comprising at least oneindividual asthma status score and individual indicator of reliabilityand a summary asthma status score and summary indicator of reliability.

In some embodiments, the at least one individual asthma status scorecomprises a plurality of individual asthma status scores including afirst score indicative of environmental asthma triggers, a second scoreindicative of asthma burden on the physiology of the patient, a thirdscore indicative of medication adherence of the patient and a fourthscore indicative of symptoms perceived by the patient.

In yet another aspect of the invention, an assessment system forassessing the health status of a patient comprises a data processingsystem, a data capture system communicatively coupled with the dataprocessing system and a health data output system communicativelycoupled with the data processing system, wherein the data processingsystem receives sensor-based data from the data capture system,generates a health status score and a confidence rating for the healthstatus score based at least in part on sensor-based data and outputs thehealth status score and the confidence ratings to the health data outputsystem.

In some embodiments, the data processing system generates a plurality ofhealth status scores and respective confidence ratings for the healthstatus scores comprising at least one individual asthma status score andindividual confidence rating and a summary asthma status score andsummary confidence rating.

These and other aspects of the invention will be better understood byreference to the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the drawings that are briefly described below. Of course, theinvention is defined by the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a system for assessing the asthma status of a patient insome embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows the data processing system of FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 3 shows a method for configuring asthma health dimensions in someembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a method for establishing update times for asthma healthdimensions in some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a method for calculating scores and confidence ratings forasthma health dimensions in some embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows an assessment system for assessing the asthma status of apatient in some embodiments of the invention. The assessment systemincludes a data processing system 140 communicatively coupled between anenvironmental data capture system 110, a physiological data capturesystem 120, a user input system 130 and an asthma data output system150. Communicative coupling between elements 110, 120, 130, 150, on theone hand, and data processing system 140, on the other, may be realizedusing wired connections, wireless links, or a combination thereof.

Environmental data capture system 110 continuously receives duringoperation environmental sensor data. Environmental sensor data arecollected by sensors on or near the body of the patient which mayinclude a humidity sensor, a temperature sensor and an airborne particlesensor, for example. Environmental data capture system 110 preprocessesenvironmental sensor data to generate sensor-based environmental dataindicative of environmental asthma triggers. Sensor-based environmentaldata may include, for example, relative humidity data, ambienttemperature data and airborne particulate data, in a form useable bydata processing system 140. Environmental data capture system 110transmits the sensor-based environmental data to data processing system140. By way of example, preprocessing of environmental sensor data byenvironmental data capture system 110 may include determining airborneparticle density from acquired output voltage measurements indicative ofparticle density and identification of specific airborne irritants fromsuch output voltage measurements. For instance, if an output voltagepattern consists of several consecutive well above nominal outputvoltages it may indicate the presence of dense or thick irritants, suchas cigarette smoke. If an output voltage pattern, on the other hand,consists of nominal output voltages interrupted by occasional outputvoltage spikes, it may indicate the presence of thin or less denseirritants, such as scattered pollen or dust.

Physiological data capture system 120 continuously receives duringoperation physiological sensor data. Physiological sensor data arecollected by sensors operative on the body of the patient, which mayinclude a respiratory sound sensor, a heart sound sensor and a pulseoximetry sensor, for example. Physiological data capture system 120preprocesses the physiological sensor data to generate sensor-basedphysiological data indicative of the asthma burden on the patient'sphysiology in a form useable by data processing system 140.Physiological data capture system 120 transmits the sensor-basedphysiological data to data processing system 140. Preprocessing ofphysiological sensor data may include, for example, signalamplification, signal filtering, analog to digital (A/D) conversion andtime- and/or frequency-domain processing to generate parametricphysiological data, such as respiration rate, inspiratory duration,expiratory duration, inspiratory to expiratory ratio (I:E ratio) andSpO2 data.

User input system 130 is an input device, such as one or more of akeyboard, keypad, touch screen, mouse or voice input module, throughwhich the patient inputs patient diary data indicative of asthmasymptoms and medication adherence as perceived by the patient. Patientdiary data is input into a patient diary form displayed on an outputsystem, such as asthma data output system 150.

Asthma data output system 150 is an output device, such as one or moreof an liquid crystal display (LCD) screen or light emitting diode (LED)display screen, through which the patient views asthma output data, suchas asthma status scores and confidence ratings for individual andsummary asthma health dimensions, as well as patient diary forms. Asthmastatus scores and confidence ratings displayed on asthma data outputsystem 150 are received from data processing system 140 and updatedperiodically during operation in accordance with configured time rules.In some embodiments, asthma data output system 150 may have a filecapture device and/or printing device in lieu of or in addition to anoutput display screen.

Data processing system 140 is a processor having software executablethereon for configuring asthma health dimensions, establishing updatetimes for asthma health dimensions, calculating scores and confidenceratings for asthma health dimensions and transmitting scores andconfidence ratings for asthma health dimensions to asthma data outputsystem 150 for display thereon. In some embodiments, user input system130, data processing system 140 and asthma data output system 150 arecollocated on a mobile computer, mobile phone, or personal dataassistant (PDA).

Data processing system 140 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2 to includea dimension configuration module 210, a time management module 220, adimension calculation module 230 and a clock 240.

Dimension configuration module 210 is invoked by a programmer to defineand register asthma health dimensions. Such a programmer may be a systemdeveloper, a system administrator or the patient, for example.Definition and registration of asthma health dimensions takes place insome embodiments at a manufacturer's facility prior to acquisition ofthe assessment system by the patient, and takes place in otherembodiments in the field after acquisition of the assessment system bythe patient. Asthma health dimensions are parameter groups indicative ofrespiratory health that are independently monitored by the assessmentsystem and for which asthma status scores and confidence ratings areindependently calculated and outputted. Asthma health dimensions includeindividual dimensions and, in some embodiments, a summary dimension.Individual dimensions may be selected based on their usefulness asstand-alone predictors of asthma exacerbations. Each individualdimension is defined by the following:

(1) Label—A literal string that uniquely identifies the dimension.

(2) Parameters—Parameters to be included in the scoring calculation.

(3) Score Calculation Rules—Formulas and/or conditional statements usedfor calculating the asthma status score for the individual dimensionusing the parameters. These rules include a dimension score algorithmindicating steps for calculating the score. These rules also include adimension score update frequency that specifies the frequency with whichthe dimension score should be recalculated and outputted.

(4) Confidence Rating Calculation Rules—Formulas and/or conditionalstatements for calculating the confidence rating for the individualdimension using the parameters. These rules include one specifying howthe fractional number of parameters used to generate the confidencerating (i.e. actual number of parameters used divided by the maximumnumber of parameters defined for the dimension) impacts on theconfidence rating; and one specifying at what point the actual changerate of the score is deemed excessive (i.e. exceeds a maximum changerate) and impacts on the confidence rating. A maximum change rate of“any” may be specified to indicate that the actual change rate of thescore, no matter how rapid, does not affect the confidence rating.

(5) Incorporation Rules—Formulas and/or conditional statements forincluding the asthma status score for the individual dimension in thesummary asthma status score calculation. These rules include a summaryconstraint level. In some embodiments, there are three summaryconstraint levels: always integrate, integrate only if the confidencerating for the individual dimension exceeds a predetermined threshold,and never integrate.

If a summary dimension is defined, the summary dimension may include thefollowing definitional elements:

(1) Supplemental Score Calculation Rules—Additional formulas and/orconditional statements for calculating the asthma status score for thesummary dimension using the asthma status score for the individualdimensions.

(2) Supplemental Confidence Rating Calculation Rules—Additional formulasand/or conditional statements for calculating the confidence rating forthe summary dimension using the asthma status score for the individualdimensions.

In some embodiments, five asthma health dimensions are defined,consisting of four individual dimensions and one summary dimension. Theindividual dimensions include an environmental trigger dimension basedon sensor-based environmental data, a physiological burden dimensionbased on sensor-based physiological data, a medication adherencedimension based on patient diary data and a perceived symptom dimensionbased on patient diary data. The summary dimension is a composite of thefour individual dimensions. In other embodiments, an individualdimension is also defined for lung function change rate and directionbased on one or both of sensor-based physiological data or patient diarydata.

FIG. 3 shows a method for configuring asthma health dimensions performedusing dimension configuration module 210 in some embodiments of theinvention. Configuration may be achieved through programmer interactionwith dimension configuration module 210 on user input system 130 oranother input system. At the outset, the programmer provides a label forthe individual dimension (310). The programmer then identifiesparameters to be included in calculations for the individual dimension(320). By way of example, for the environmental trigger dimension, theidentified parameters may consist of all sensor-based environmentalparameters for which data are received from environmental data capturesystem 110 (e.g. relative humidity, ambient temperature, and airborneparticle identity and concentration).

The programmer then provides rules for determining an asthma statusscore for the individual dimension (330). For example, in the case ofthe environmental trigger dimension, the rules may indicate to calculateindividual parameter scores between one and five for relative humidity,temperature, and airborne particle concentration and then generate adimension score between one and five wherein each parameter scorecontributes one-third to the dimension score. The rules may alsoindicate a frequency, such as ten minutes, with which the asthma statusscore for the individual dimension is included in the calculation of theasthma status score for the summary dimension.

The programmer then provides rules for determining a confidence ratingindicative of reliability of the asthma status score (340). For example,in the case of the environmental trigger dimension, the rules mayindicate to lower the confidence rating if data on fewer than all ofrelative humidity, ambient temperature and airborne particleconcentration are presently available. If, for example, relativehumidity data are unavailable at present, the confidence rating may belowered by one-third from 100% to 67%. The rules may also indicate tolower the confidence rating if a change in the value of any of relativehumidity, ambient temperature or airborne particle concentration exceedsa maximum change rate. If, for example, relative humidity data indicatea drop of 3% since the previous reading two seconds ago and the maximumchange rate for relative humidity is 1% per second, the confidencerating may be lowered by a predetermined amount.

The programmer then provides rules for including the individualdimension in the summary dimension (350). For example, in the case ofthe environmental trigger dimension, the rules may indicate to includethe individual dimension in the summary dimension calculation only ifthe confidence rating for the individual dimension exceeds apredetermined threshold, such as 50%. The rules may also indicate anupdate frequency, such as ten minutes, which is the frequency with whichthe summary dimension score will be recalculated and transmitted toasthma status output system 150 for display.

Dimension configuration module 210 then registers the individualdimension with time management module 220 (360). Registration includesnotifying time management module 220 of the update frequency for theindividual dimension.

Once registration of the individual dimension has been completed, theprogrammer may configure another individual health dimension, such as aphysiological burden dimension based on sensor-based physiological data,a medication adherence dimension based on patient diary data or aperceived symptom dimension based on patient diary data. If theprogrammer elects to configure another individual dimension, Steps310-360 are repeated. Once there are no more individual healthdimensions to configure, the programmer may provide additional rules fordetermining the asthma status score (370) and the confidence rating(380) for the summary dimension. For example, the rules may indicate anupdate frequency, such as one minute, which is the frequency with whichthe asthma status score and confidence rating for the summary dimensionwill be recalculated and transmitted to asthma status output system 150for display. Moreover, in some embodiments, additional rules may beestablished to improve the capability of the asthma status score for thesummary dimension to predict the onset of an asthma attack based oncurrent research and prevailing clinical opinion. For example, formulasand/or conditional statements may be configured by which the rate andchange of direction of certain respiratory data (e.g. I:E ratio, wheezerate) are included in the calculation of the asthma status score for thesummary dimension.

Once additional rules for the summary dimension have been configured,environmental data capture system 110 and physiological data capturesystem 120 begin real-time continuous data capture (390), clock 240 isstarted and time management module 220 and decision calculation module230 are invoked (395). Naturally, there may be a substantial time lagbetween configuration and the commencement of real-time continuous datacapture depending on who the programmer is and where configurationoccurs.

In parallel with the real-time continuous data capture, the patient maysubmit to data processing system 240 via user input system 130, on anepisodic basis, real-time patient diary data for use in calculatingasthma status scores and confidence ratings for configured medicationadherence and perceived symptom dimensions. Patient diary data may bereceived when the patient completes or updates a patient diary formrendered on asthma data output system 150. The patient diary form mayinclude questions that allow a patient to describe his or her perceivedsymptoms, adherence to medication and how asthma has affected his or herdaily activities.

FIG. 4 shows a method for establishing update times for asthma healthdimensions performed by time management module 220 in some embodimentsof the invention. Time management module 220 maintains and manages anupdate status flag for every configured asthma health dimension. Updatestatus flags are either “TRUE” or “FALSE”. Time management module 220sets an update status flag to “TRUE” at the update frequency for thedimension. Every second, for every dimension, time management module 220compares the current time kept by clock 240 with a status flag updatetime (410). For each dimension where the current time is greater than orequal to the update time, module 220 sets the update status flag to“TRUE” and advances the update time in conformance with the configuredupdate frequency for the dimension (420). In this way, dimensioncalculation module 230 can determine by reference to the update statusflags for which dimensions asthma status scores and confidence ratingsneed to be recalculated and outputted at present.

FIG. 5 shows a method for calculating scores and confidence ratings forasthma health dimensions performed by dimension calculation module 230in some embodiments of the invention. Dimension calculation module 230determines asthma status scores and confidence ratings for everyconfigured asthma health dimension. Every second, for every dimension,dimension calculation module 230 checks the update status flag (510).For each dimension where the update status flag is “TRUE”, module 230recalculates the asthma status score and confidence rating, and sets theupdate status flag to “FALSE” (520). Module 230 then transmits theupdated asthma status scores and confidence ratings to asthma dataoutput system 150 for display (530).

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that theinvention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing fromthe spirit or essential character hereof. For example, because of theability of a programmer to configure health dimensions and defineparameters and rules, the present method and system can be equallyapplied to the assessment through scoring and confidence ratings of thestatus of a patient with respect to other health conditions, such asdiabetes and metabolic syndrome. The present description is thereforeconsidered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. Thescope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims, and allchanges that come with in the meaning and range of equivalents thereofare intended to be embraced therein.

1-15. (canceled)
 16. A method for assessing the asthma status of apatient, comprising the steps of: receiving, by a data processingsystem, sensor-based environmental data; generating, by the dataprocessing system, an asthma status score and a confidence rating forthe asthma status score based at least in part on the sensor-basedenvironmental data, wherein the confidence rating is generated based onat least one of a comparison of an actual number of parameters used togenerate the asthma status score with a predefined number of parametersor a comparison of an actual change rate for the asthma status scorewith a predefined change rate; and displaying, by an asthma data outputsystem, the asthma status score and the confidence rating.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the generating step comprises generating aplurality of asthma status scores and respective confidence ratings forthe asthma status scores comprising at least one individual asthmastatus score and individual confidence rating and a summary asthmastatus score and summary confidence rating.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein the at least one individual asthma status score comprises aplurality of individual asthma status scores including a first scoreindicative of environmental asthma triggers, a second score indicativeof asthma burden on the physiology of the patient and a third scoreindicative of medication adherence of the patient. 19-20. (canceled) 21.A method for assessing the health status of a patient, comprising thesteps of: receiving, by a data processing system, sensor-basedenvironmental data; generating, by the data processing system, a healthstatus score and a confidence rating for the health status score basedat least in part on the sensor-based environmental data, wherein theconfidence rating is generated based on at least one of a comparison ofan actual number of parameters used to generate the health status scorewith a predefined number of parameters or a comparison of an actualchange rate for the health status score with a predefined change rate;and displaying, by a health data output system, the health status scoreand the confidence rating.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein thegenerating step comprises generating a plurality of health status scoresand respective confidence ratings for the health status scorescomprising at least one individual health status score and individualconfidence rating and a summary health status score and summaryconfidence rating.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least oneindividual health status score comprises a plurality of individualhealth status scores.